


Two More Parties

by Nutriyum_Addict



Category: Parks and Recreation
Genre: F/M, Family Dynamics, Weddings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-13
Updated: 2015-10-02
Packaged: 2018-04-14 14:30:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 3,925
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4568004
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nutriyum_Addict/pseuds/Nutriyum_Addict
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Ben, Leslie, and the triplets go Minnesota for his dad and Ulani’s wedding. Ben hides in the shower and has a bachelor party with his dad, while Leslie and Ulani do wedding crafts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the most excellent prompt: "Could you write more of Leslie and Ben visiting Partridge with the triplets? I love how you write Ben's family dynamic and would love Ben being a dad around HIS dad."
> 
> Sorry, I forgot to put sex in this one. But it was _very awesome_ , just like Leslie says.

Ben slides opens the shower curtain and holds a cup of coffee out to his wife.

It’s in a borrowed University of Minnesota Golden Gophers mug and he watches as she finishes rinsing out her hair, opens her eyes, and then smiles at him. Just looking at Leslie makes him feel better.

Well, the fact that she’s naked doesn’t hurt anything either.

“Alright, make some room, I’m coming in,” he adds, after Leslie takes the mug from him.

“What? Didn’t you already–”

“Yeah. But I think I’ve just decided to get in here with you.”

He unbuttons his shirt, pulls it off, and starts undoing his jeans. He’s not quite sure why the idea of spending time with his parents (together or separate) makes him want to flee–escape to Australia or keep a cab on retainer outside, but it does.

And right now, hiding out in the shower with Leslie seems like a sensible option. The only option.

“Ben.”

“What? Just for a few minutes.”

“What about the babies?”

“They’re in their playpen right out there,” he gestures towards the open bathroom door and into their guest bedroom. He waves at the three eight month-olds and smiles as they giggle back at him.

“And besides, the crazy people are just outside our room, so we’re all safest in here,” he finishes, as if that makes perfect sense (well, it kind of does). “If it gets really dicey, we’ll just bring the kids into the shower with us.”

He pulls his boxers and socks off and steps into the tub with her.

“Ben.”

“Shhhh,” he whispers and then kisses her. Her face is wet and she smells like grapefruit, maybe lemon. Something citrus and comforting.

He feels her reaching to the side to put the mug on the little ledge, right next to the shampoo and her travel bodywash, so she can wrap her arms around his neck.

“It’s just two more days,” she tells him, moving her hands down to massage his shoulders.

“We should have stayed in a hotel,” he says, resting his forehead against hers. “Why didn’t we stay in a hotel?”

“Because it was cheaper to stay with your dad and Ulani for three nights in their new condo and you’re still freaked out about the babies’ college fund.”

“I am way too fiscally conservative sometimes. They can go to community college. This was really fucking stupid.”

“Two more days,” she repeats. “And we have our own bedroom and bathroom. It’s fine.”

“My half-sister is two years older than my kids.”

“I know,” Leslie agrees and nods.

“My mom keeps texting me and trying to get information about the wedding tomorrow,” he says, keeping his eyes shut tight. Maybe if he doesn’t look he can just pretend they’re home in their own bathroom.

“I’m sorry, honey.”

“Oh, and my stepmom-to-be is twelve years younger than my wife.”

“Okay. I get it, babe. This is awkward for you.”

“Sorry,” Ben opens his eyes and laughs. “But seriously, there is no one in the whole world that I would rather hide out in a shower with than my forty year-old wife.”

She narrows her eyes and gives him a look.

“My very youthful, gorgeous, naked, forty year-old wife. My super _sexy roommate_ and all-around _babydoll_.”

Leslie can’t seem to hide a smile any longer at his use of pet names. “It’s going to be okay. And it’s important that we’re here for your dad and Ulani’s wedding tomorrow. They’re your family. The babies’…grandparents.”

“ _Ugh_ ,” he moans, rubbing his temple. “Okay. Yeah. I know. There’s just the wedding to get through, babysitting Roxy tomorrow night while they stay at the hotel, and then Sunday we get out of here. Bright and early. Forty-eight hours from now, I’m seriously thinking we can be halfway through Wisconsin.”

“I think we should wait until Steve and Ulani get back and not leave a three year-old by herself. And maybe stick to the enforced speed limits,” Leslie reasons.

“No. I don’t think we need to–”

Ben is interrupted by a loud pounding on the guest room’s door.

“Are you ready yet? Let’s go, Benny,” his dad’s voice commands, just as one of the triplets, Ben thinks it’s sounds like Wesley, starts to cry at the loud intrusion.

“I need to go do wedding errands with my dad now. We’re going to pick up his tux and then who knows what else.”

“Well,” Leslie says, turning the water off. “I’m going with Ulani to _Victoria’s Secret_ to pick out something for tomorrow night. Want to swap errands?”

“Oh god. No. Good lord, why did you tell me that? _Blehhhh_ ,” Ben says with a shudder, as he wraps a towel around his waist and heads to the bedroom to console a scared and crying Wesley and quickly get redressed.

* * *

“Leslie said we shouldn’t see each other before the wedding,” Ulani tells Steve later that night, as all four of them sit around the table and finish the Thai take-out that Ben and his dad brought home for dinner.

At eight PM, three year-old Roxy is in bed and the triplets are in their playpen, just a few feet away.

“Oh. Wait. I didn’t mean–”

“We’re seeing each other right now,” Steve says, interrupting Leslie’s clarification.

“Well, we can’t sleep together in the same room tonight. So, I’m staying in the guest room with Leslie.”

“ _What?_ ” Ben, Ben’s dad, and Leslie all ask at the same time.

“You heard me. It’s bad luck, Steve. Besides, I need placecards and a guestbook according to her,” Ulani points to Leslie. “She’s making me all that. We’ll work on wedding stuff in the guest room, you two can stay in the master bedroom. Have a boys’ night. Or whatever.”

“Right. Okay,” Leslie says quickly. “Sure. This will be fun. Like a bachelor party in one room and a bachelorette party in the other. We can work on crafts for the wedding and talk girl stuff and you two can…” She trails off, taking in Ben’s increasingly panicked expression, and not really knowing what she should suggest Ben and his dad do.

“What did you do for your bachelor party?” Steve asks, turning towards his son.

“Um, well, we played _Settlers of Catan_. Oh, and then we all took turns–”

“I don’t know what any of that is, but we’re not doing it.” Steve gets up and walks over to the cabinet. He grabs a bottle of scotch and two glasses. “We can drink. It’s not a legitimate bachelor party unless there’s alcohol.”

Leslie makes a face as Ben shoots her a desperate look.

* * *

After a few minutes of consulting with Leslie, Ben wheels Roxy’s old crib into the master bedroom–they’ve been borrowing it for the triplets at night. He’s fully aware that his dad is watching him and making an annoyed face.

Ben is also aware that part of him probably insisted to Leslie that he keep the babies in here to maybe start something with his dad.

He’s not proud of it, but–

“What are you doing?”

And there it is.

“What?” Ben asks quietly, feigning obliviousness while he leans down to brush his palm softly along Stephen’s sleeping form. They’re all cuddled up together in the single-size but roomy crib just like little kittens and it makes Ben smile.

“Why did you bring them in here?”

“Well, Leslie and Ulani are busy working on crafts for the wedding, so I figured the babies could just sleep in here with us. They’re all actually really sound sleepers now, so it won’t be a problem.”

“But shouldn’t Leslie take care of them?”

Ben makes a face, while keeping his attention on his children. He keeps his voice light and even. “And why is that, dad?”

Steve sighs. “You know what I mean. Doesn’t she have to feed them or something?”

“No. She’s not breastfeeding anymore and they usually sleep through the night now. Unless there’s a wet diaper or–”

“Fine,” his father interrupts. “It’s fine Ben. I get it. I was a lousy father who made your mother do everything.”

“I’m not…that’s not,” Ben sighs and trails off, suddenly feeling like a dick about this overly passive-aggressive, _I’m a better father than you_ move. Was it that transparent? “No one thinks you were a lousy father.”

“Stephanie does. She’s not even coming to the wedding. Neither is Henry.”

“Henry, Meghan, and the kids are on vacation at Disney World. This was kind of last minute, you know? You only told us about it three days ago.”

“And your sister?”

When Ben turns around, his dad is staring at him intently, making that slightly terrifying face that always manages to scare Ben just a little, no matter how old he is–twelve, twenty-six, or even forty-one.

“Well…Stephanie and mom are close,” Ben says carefully, by way of explanation.

“So she’s on your mom’s side.”

“It’s not about sides, dad. There are no sides and a lot of the time, it doesn’t even feel like any of us are on the same team. You’ve been divorced almost thirty years. I think Stephanie just feels bad for mom and that her coming here would make mom upset.”

“But you came.”

“Yeah,” Ben says, the expression on his face softening. “Of course Leslie and I did. You’re getting married.”

* * *

“Ben is going to be my step-son,” Ulani tells Leslie matter-of-factly, next-door in the guest bedroom.

“Yep,” Leslie agrees, putting the finishing touches on Steve and Ulani’s guestbook for tomorrow–a bright red ribbon tied around the white store-bought book’s binding. And even though it’s just a small wedding, followed by dinner at a restaurant for twelve guests (her, Ben, Steve’s brother Frank, his wife June, a couple of cousins, and a few of Ulani’s friends), there should still be a guestbook–some way to capture the memories of Ulani and Steve’s wedding day.

The book itself is nothing special but it’s the best she could manage with their last minute trip to the craft store that afternoon. If only she had known how this evening would turn out, she could have stopped at a party place and gotten some penis-themed accessories. For her husband’s father’s wife-to-be…her mother-in-law.

Okay. Wait. No. That would probably be weird.

“Did you have sex in here last night? With my _step-son_?” Ulani asks suddenly.

“Oh, uh, well.” Leslie switches her attention from her craft project to Ulani and stares at the other woman–the very intense, frowning, unblinking woman holding a hot glue gun.

“Yes. We did. Really did. Kind of right where you’re sitting. The babies were all asleep and we were quiet but it was still very awesome,” Leslie pauses. “Sorry. Sometimes when I’m nervous and talking about Ben, I get carried away and inappropriate.”

“Gross. We need to change the sheets then,” Ulani says, getting up off the bed to get new sheets, Leslie assumes.

* * *

Ben is rummaging through his bag looking for his copy of the latest William Gibson novel, when his father comes out of the master bathroom, wearing a pair of blue and white striped pajamas. He recognizes them instantly.

“Are those the ones Leslie and I sent last Christmas?”

“Yeah,” his dad confirms. “I usually sleep naked but I figured–”

“Oh god. Yes, pajamas are good,” Ben agrees quickly, giving up the search for his book and instead just standing there awkwardly.

“I like airing out the equipment at night,” his dad adds, heading towards the dresser and the bottle of scotch.

Ben continues to stare as his father simultaneously pours drinks and makes Ben feel incredibly uncomfortable at the same time.

_Ladies and gentlemen, Stephen Wyatt._

“Besides, that way if I get a boner, it’s that much easier to–”

“Wow. Please stop talking. I get it. I don’t need to hear about the details.”

“What? I would think you’d appreciate knowing that everything still works on the old man. You know, genetics and all that. Wyatt men have no trouble in that department. Did you know that Teddy had a heart attack right in the middle of–”

“With Lila?” Ben asks, his curiosity getting the better of him, even as he has difficulty holding back a shudder, while trying to get the now-present visual of his dad’s much older brother and his…special lady friend out of his mind.

“Who else? Seventy years old and he’s still humping away on her like a teenager, right until his heart stopped and he collapsed on top of her. I always knew he ate too many fried foods. Anyway. You got a lot of good years ahead of you, my son,” he says, walking over and giving Ben a hard punch in the arm.

His dad finishes with a, “just stay away from the donuts,” and then hands one of the glasses to Ben.

“Oh, I really don’t like scotch. Um, Ron,” he pauses, realizing how strange it is to actually say the man’s name out loud instead of the current moniker of _you-know-who_ or Leslie’s recent favorite, _that-stupid-jerk-face_ , “made me try some once before and I just don’t like–”

“Don’t be a pussy. Have a drink with me,” his dad insists, sitting down on the bed. “This is my bachelor party.”

Ben sighs and takes a seat in the nearby chair. “Alright.”

They toast and he tries a sip but, yep, it’s still horrible. Ben does manage to swallow this time, though. So at least that’s good.

“I went to a tea party yesterday,” his dad tells him.

“You did?”

“Yeah. Your sister–”

“Stephanie was here?”

“No,” he says slowly. “The small one. Your three year-old sister.”

“Oh. Roxy. Right. Of course. My half-sister. Sister.”

That earns him an irritated look, but his dad continues. “She had a little table in her room all set up with stuffed animals and we drank pretend tea and ate real cookies.”

Ben smiles. “That’s cute.” It really is, he thinks, although he can’t at all visualize his gruff and terrifying father drinking pretend tea, surrounded by stuffed animals.

“It was really fucking cute,” Steve agrees, smiling back. “And no. I never did anything like that with Stephanie. I just…the point is…look, Ben. I’m trying. You kids grew up with your mom and I fighting all the time and sure, it could have been better but it also could have been worse but we did the best we could. And now maybe I have a chance to do it all better.”

“I know,” Ben says. And really, he does. It wasn’t ideal but times were different then and his parents were pretty miserable living together. But he really does hope his dad is a good father to Roxanne. "I know that dad. We all do.“

“Alright. Drink up, then.”

Just then, Sonia wakes up and starts to cry.

Slightly relieved at the interruption, Ben puts the scotch down and goes over to the crib and picks his daughter up. He starts walking her around the room, trying to get her to settle down so that she doesn’t wake her brothers up. He even sings a few lines of an old REM song to her.

Sonia smiles up at him and quiets down and Ben is so filled with love he can’t even believe it. He’s so full of love whenever he holds or cuddles or sings to one of the kids. Whenever he thinks about his family–his team.

“You’re a good father,” the older man tells him quietly. “A good man. I’m proud of you, Benny.”

* * *

A couple of hours later, her phone makes the little noise that alerts her to a text message. Leslie grabs it quickly from the bedside table, before Ulani can wake up and tell Leslie more about her and Steve’s sex life.

_Hi. Meet me in the living room._

When Leslie gets out there, Ben is sitting on the couch in his flannel pajama pants and a Li'l Sebastian t-shirt. He’s holding a glass of scotch.

“Hey. I figured you were still up.”

“I am. How are the babies?”

“Sound asleep. But just in case,” he points to the baby monitor on the coffee table. “Although, I think their grandpa could probably handle a diaper change or some fussiness. Come cuddle with me for awhile. There’s no reason we can’t see each other tonight.”

“Okay,” Leslie agrees, smiling as she takes Ben’s hand and sits down down next to him. She looks at the glass in his other hand. “Can I have some of that?”

“Please. I brought it out for you. In fact, I need you to finish it so he thinks I drank all of it.” Ben hands her the glass and watches her take a healthy sip.

After a few minutes of just quietly snuggling, Ben admits, “So, I’m glad we came.”

“I knew you would be,” she says, unable to help gloating just a bit.

As they settle next to each other on the couch, Ben’s arm wraps tightly around her.

“Although, I am also still glad we’re leaving the day after tomorrow and going back home to Pawnee,” he whispers and then kisses along the side of her jaw. “But maybe we can stay for brunch Sunday, before we head out. And drive home at a reasonable speed.”

“That would be nice,” Leslie answers, reaching forward to put the still half-full glass on the table.

“No. Keep drinking. I wasn’t kidding. I really need you to finish that, babe.”


	2. Bonus Scene

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ben and his dad doing wedding errands.

“So then the new _Star Wars_ trailers make me feel a little better, but I just don’t know.” Ben finishes the mainly one-sided discussion right as they finally pull into the tux rental place’s parking lot.

There’s something about being in the car with his dad that makes him feel like a teenager again–even though one of his own eight month-old sons is in the backseat, safely secured in his car seat. No longer crying, Wesley seems to be enjoying the time away from his siblings having made happy, contented baby noises during the whole drive.

“Star Wars?” His dad finally asks, putting the car into park. “That’s that one you watched all the time when you were little, right? With that Luke Skywaiter and Hand Solo.”

“Walker. Luke Skywalker. And just Han, dad. Han Solo. Not hand,” Ben corrects, rolling his eyes just a bit but laughing just the same.

“That’s what I meant.” Something about his dad’s tone makes Ben think that he didn’t mean that at all.

“Alright, so here’s something I’ve been curious about forever,” Ben says by way of introduction. He’s petty sure his dad will have no idea what he’s talking about, but he might as well ask since they’re on the topic.

“That one time, when I was sick? Remember, I was supposed to go to that sci-fi convention with Henry and his friends and he got my poster signed by Mark Hamill. Do you know if–”

“Oh, I signed that,” Steve Wyatt says matter-of-factly.

Ben’s eyes widen in surprise as an over thirty year-old mystery is solved in about thirty seconds.

Hold on, he thinks. His dad forged the Mark Hamill signature that he’s been skeptical about ever since Henry had given Ben his poster back on the evening of October 10, 1983? The poster that Henry swore up and down for hours (and then years) that Mark Hamill had really autographed?

“You…what?” Ben finally gets out, still feeling a bit dumbstruck and confused.

“I signed that,” his dad says with a shrug. “I went into the garage that night and there’s your idiot brother trying to copy that guy’s signature, doing a really crappy job, practically in tears. I took a look and forged it. I think it turned out pretty close.”

“You think it…wait. You’re telling me that you helped one son trick your other son?”

“No,” his father insists. “I helped Henry out of a jam and made you happy in the process. He promised you that he’d get your poster autographed and he was trying to keep his promise.”

“I can’t believe this. All these years, I’ve thought I had a limited edition _Star Wars_ poster signed by Mark Hamill and instead I–”

“It made you happy, right?” His dad asks.

“Yeah, but…oh my god. It was all a lie. Henry swore to me that it was authentic. That he waited in line and Mark Hamill signed it for him. Just last year he said it was real! I promised I wouldn’t be mad, that he could just tell me the truth, and then he looked me right in the eyes and said it was real.”

“Would you have been mad if he told you the truth?” Steve asks.

“Well, of course I would have,” Ben responds as his father nods.

“Look, Benny, your brother lied because the line was too long. As it was, he waited for a couple of hours, missing all the Star Tron-stuff and ET-whatevers that all his other little nerdy friends got to see. So later, I find him all sad and upset because he missed out on that and also didn’t even manage to get that guy to sign your poster. Meanwhile, you’re all mopey and coughing and crying because you couldn’t go to the convention and so…I helped everyone out out.”

Ben just shakes his head in disbelief, still not quite able to grasp this new information.

The signature that he brings up to Henry practically every time he sees his brother, the signature that he’s always thought looked just a little suspect…is a fake. The signature that Ben had even tweeted a picture of to Mark Hamill just last year, trying to get the actor to authenticate (of course, _HamillHimself_ had not tweeted back) is a fraud.

“Leslie and I almost got into a fight because I wanted to hang the poster up in the guest bathroom. Because it was a poster signed by Mark Hamill. I finally convinced her because it was special,” Ben tells his dad.

"Yeah, but you have the poster up in your guest bathroom now, right?”

“But it’s just your signature,” he says, still shaken by the answer to his decades old question.

“Well, now that you are a father,” his dad says slowly, unbuckling his seat belt and turning the car’s engine off. “You will find out that it’s not all so simple. One of my kids was upset, so I helped him. One day this one,” he says, as he turns around to look at Wesley and smile and make a silly face at his grandson, “might be all upset and you’ll want to help him with his problem. This little guy will be looking up at you with a sad face and big sad eyes and you’ll take the pen from him and forge a stupid signature.”

Ben looks from his dad to his son. Wesley waves happily to Ben and then giggles.

“And maybe you’ll be tricking your other kid unintentionally, but you’re not doing it to be mean or unfair, you’re just doing it because one little nerdy son didn’t want to disappoint the other little nerdy son. Because they are brothers.”

Ben’s dad opens up his car door before continuing. “Do what you want with this info, but Henry tried to do something nice for you because you were sick, but he was barely eleven, and sometimes eleven year-olds over-promise things. Now, let’s go get my tux.”


End file.
